TikTok Influencers Migrate to Xiaohongshu

Xiaohongshu seeing a surge in "TikTok refugees"

TikTok influencers who use the video platform to make short videos in the hopes of going viral are terrified the US government will force the social media app to shut down due to fears that it gives the Chinese government access to users' data.

That's because these influencers make money from their videos, and for some, that's their full-time gig.

However as a result of the impending January 19 deadline, TikTokers or content creators on TikTok are calling themselves #tiktokrefugees and "fleeing" to... another Chinese platform called Xiaohongshu.

There are fears TikTok will shut down Jan 19

Little do these influencers know that Xiaohongshu -- originally translated as "Little Red Book" -- in a satirical nod to Chairman Mao Zedong's book of quotations, is a Chinese company promoted as "RedNote" or "Red" in North America these days.

Xiaohongshu is like Instagram, where users can post pictures and videos. Initially it was called "Hong Kong Shopping Guide" to give tips to Chinese visitors to the city of where to eat, stay, and take pictures. For example they would give detailed instructions on where to have their "Instagram-worthy" shot with say a cup of Arabica coffee along the waterfront in Kennedy Town.

It was great for the cafe having lots of customers, but terrible for traffic in the area, as people blocked roads to get the perfect shot.

Started by Miranda Qu and Charlwin Mao in 2013, Xiaohongshu caught the attention of several Chinese tech giants, like Alibaba and Tencent, and last July the app was worth a staggering US$17 billion. The users are predominantly women, and as a result many beauty and cosmetic brands advertise on the app. Xiaohongshu does not have an e-commerce aspect so users need to turn to Taobao or TMall to purchase things.

Chew is invited to the inauguration

But now with so many TikTok influencers, especially those from the US trying to set up accounts on Xiaohongshu, Chinese cyber regulators may not be so keen on the flood of people, particularly those not from or in China.

Already Chinese officials have told the company it "needs to ensure China-based users cannot see posts from US users", which signals the government may see the influx of Americans to RedNote as a political security threat.

What's interesting is that already there are unfiltered interactions between Chinese and US users, sharing homework questions for example, or asking what life is like in China and getting real depictions instead of rosy pictures from government sources.

So how will Xiaohongshu get around this? Create a special area only US users can access? That might be too hard to manage, and not really beneficial to US influencers who might be providing content to a limited audience.

Or this is all moot after Donald Trump gets into office on January 20. He has already shown support for TikTok, even inviting CEO Shou Zi Chew to the inauguration on Monday. Maybe those TikTok "refugees" won't have to flee the video platform after all...

Demanding Tech Exec Loses Job Over Controversial Comments

Qu claimed she worked so hard she forgot about her children

The big news in China is a tech executive who pushed her staff to work very long hours -- basically coined "996", or from 9am to 9pm, six days a week. But she was so extreme that she was fired.

Qu Jing was the former vice president and head of communications at Baidu, which is the Chinese equivalent of Google.

However, last week she posted a series of videos on Douyin, the Chinese equivalent of TikTok where she spoke about how devoted she was to her job, her strict management style, and demands on her underlings.

Baidu left Qu go following her comments

In one video she talked about her personal sacrifices as a working mother. She admitted she worked so hard that she forgot her eldest son's birthday and what grade her younger son was in at school. Qu said she didn't regret it because she "chose to become a career woman."

"If you work in public relations, don't expect weekends off," she said in another video. "Keep your phone on 24 hours a day, always ready to respond."

Needless to say her department had a high turnover rate and her videos didn't resonate and instead grated young viewers who are fed up with gruelling work hours and immense pressure. Many have adopted tang ping or "lying flat" -- or just doing the minimum to get by.

As a result Qu lost her job at Baidu, and she later apologised for her video posts.

But it didn't end there as people discussed her and her videos online.

"In her voice and in her tone, there's deep indifference to and lack of empathy for the common plight of her colleagues," said Ivy Yang, a China tech analyst and founder of consulting firm Wavelet Strategy.

Many workers opt to "lie flat" these days

"A lot of what she said really struck a nerve, because people feel that in their own workplaces very often. The fact that she said it in a way that's so direct and in your face, it just generated this kind of emotional response," she said.

This is what the bosses are thinking, and she was merely saying it aloud," Yang added.

It's not the first time a boss has landed in hot water endorsing long working hours.

In 2019 Alibaba's Jack Ma was under fire for endorsing the "996" trend, calling it "a huge blessing."

On Thursday Qu apologised "for causing such a big storm." 

"I have carefully read all the opinions and comments from various platforms, and many criticisms are very pertinent. I deeply reflect on and humbly accept them," she wrote.

She seems to have been really tone deaf when it comes to the attitudes of young workers these days. They are exhausted from working hard for very little gains, hence the philosophy of "lying flat". 

Did she not get the memo???

China's Singles Day Sales in the Dark

This year's Singles Day sales were seen as lacklustre

In yet another sign that China's economy is slowing down, the much-anticipated Singles Day yesterday, the Chinese equivalent to Black Friday showed consumer not that confident in spending their hard-earned money.

Alibaba, the behemoth that came up with the commercialised Singles Day on November 11 promoting online shopping, used to show off the latest tally of sales in a giant billboard. But this was the second year that it did not disclose numbers. Nor did it have top acts like Taylor Swift or Katy Perry to ramp up sales even further.

In 2019 Taylor Swift entertained shoppers

Data provider Syntun estimated that the gross merchandising value across all e-commerce platforms only rose 2.08 percent to 1.14 trillion yuan (US$156 billion), compared to 2.9 percent last year. Major retailers like Alibaba and JD.com already slashed prices too.

JD.com claimed its orders were at a record high, but did not say what the numbers were, while China's State Post Bureau claimed its express delivery volume hit a record high, an increase of more than 23 percent between November 1-11 compared to the previous year.

China claims its economy rose 4.9 percent in the third quarter, enabling it to hit Beijing's target of 5 percent growth for this year. However, Goldman Sachs analysts are forecasting household consumption will fall from 8.5 percent to 6 percent in 2024. As a result, the GDP is expected to be 4.8 percent next year.

There are concerns that if this consumer malaise continues, the government will have to inject more government stimulus to get people to shop again in physical or virtual malls...

HK Stocks React to Xi

Xi and Politburo move markets in a downward direction

How did Hong Kong react to General Secretary Xi Jinping's extension of power for at least another five years and his seven-man Politburo lineup?

The Hang Seng Index plunged over 700 points to drop below 16,000 points, a 13-year low. The index fell 4.4 percent to 15,494. 24 at 11.01am local time, the lowest level since May 2009. There was a major sell off of tech stocks, with Alibaba Group falling 8.8 percent to HK$63.50, a record-low close, and Tencent Holdings slumped 7 percent to HK$216.80. Meituan slumped 9.5 percent to HK$128,10.

HSI plunged below 15,000 in 13 years

Developer stocks also dropped, with Longfor Group falling 9.4 percent to HK$17.30 and Country Garden lost 7.7 percent to HK$1.32.

In his report to the Congress, Xi called for "regulating the mechanism of wealth accumulation", signalling a tighter oversight of private capital following months of crackdown on tech companies, while also pushing his vision for "common prosperity" in a bid to close the wealth gap in the country.

China's economy grew only 3.9 percent in the third quarter when it had projected 5 percent, demonstrating a lack of consumer confidence in the retail sector, which only grew 2.5 percent in the third quarter.

Does Xi even care about economic numbers? This slide backwards is a rebuke to what Jiang Zemin/Zhu Rongji and Hu Jintao/Wen Jiabao did in the past 20 years.

Unless Xi has an economic miracle up his sleeve, stocks are going to sink further.